Everything this bill has offered disappoints me. Small business has never been for it and it is a disincentive to hire, grow as a company with the bureaucratic shackles attached to it. Somewhere between 30 and 40% of small business now having Group Health have pledged to drop it by 2014 and employees will be thrown into the exchanges to apply for Medicaid like coverage. This is not a happy prospect for employers or employees in the near future. It will be a moot point if the Supreme Court shoots the bill or the worst parts of it down in June. On a related topic, it has been revealed that student health insurance in colleges across the country is doubling in cost. Oops! The students are not real happy with this Hopey Changy thing now that it is affecting them.
I agree the Obamacare writers totally shot themselves in the foot on this one. Making the tax break easier to apply for and making it worthwhile would have scored major points. This is a missed opportunity and provides more reason for the critics to pile on the criticism.
What would be your solution if Obamacare is shot down by the Supreme Court? It’s time to start thinking of alternatives as Obamacare looks like it could be DOA….
D, the writers of this bill were the Progressive Left. 2,700 pages of Progressive Utopia with no regard for our Constitution and ramming mandates down our throat. It was so complicated that even scholars can’t read it. Perhaps that is why Congress voted on it without reading it. The bill needs to be scrapped in its entirety and replaced with a simple 50 page bill with private market solutions. This time, include Tort Reform which was absent. One of the big cost drivers was Malpractice on doctors and hospitals. Second, allow companies to sell across state lines to promote competition and lower costs. A Pool could be set up to cover the indigent and chronically ill for a fraction of the cost of this monstous bill which doubles in cost everytime it is scored. We also shouldn’t be covering illegal aliens. They need to go back home and come back legally. The new bill should not be written by anyone with Progressive ideology or we will end up back at the same place. We have people in Congress who are doctors. They should write the bill since they have experience with all the problems that have been created by Obamacare.
Stream lined billing. Why do I go to the ER and end up with three different bills from three different entities? I went to one place. Reduce confusion. Reduce Collection expense. My mother is begining stategs of Altzheimers. She could never keep this crap straight even before this set in. I just paid a $60.00 for her that slipped into collection. How much did they spend to collect $60.00?
TORT REFORM has to be at the top of the list.
Them are my two beefs with the current system (not including the cost).
This is typical of Big-Guv and their advocates. Sugar coat the poison pill and hard-sell it to uninformed & gullible people with a strong tail-wind from the idealistic media. Once the sugar coating comes off, the poison’s bitter reality hits.
The D-controlled congress had to “pass it to see what’s in it” (thank you for the great quote, Ms. Pelosi). Now that they have passed it, the biggest government boondoggle of our lifetimes is unfolding and it is blindingly ugly. A huge standing ‘O’ to you myopic Big-Guvvists on Capitol Hill!
Amen County. I believe Congress caught Kathleen Sebelius spending right at $17 million in taxpayer money doing public relations to sell Obamacare. The President did over 30 speeches trying to explain in and never could sell it to the American People. Remember how he kept repeating that if you like your plan you can keep it. How is that working out when rates have skyrocketed and many businesses and individuals can’t afford their coverage anymore. Up to 40% of small business said they would have to drop Group Health because of affordability issues and government red tape. Student Health Insurance is doubling due to this bill. How is this affordable? How is it affordable when everytime this bill is scored by CBO, it doubles in cost? I hope the Supremes get it right and strike this monstrocity down or this country is toast.
I know I’m sounding like a broken record everytime you and I discuss, FA, but rates have been skyrocketing for at least a decade. This bill is the Heritage Foundation’s answer to Hillarycare. If you’re going to blame anyone, keep looking at the right. Yes, a Dem implemented it but it is a conservative answer to the previous version of healthcare reform from the 90’s. Our small business has grown from 18 employees (when I was hired) to now about 50. Your suggestion about the ACA doubling by the CBO needs to A) be put into context and B) be disproven:
Ted Cruz says health reform’s price tag has doubled
Tweet U.S. Senate hopeful Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, tweeted a claim that’s been racing through Republican circles in response to updated cost projections of the national health reform law.
“Did you know ObamaCare will cost nearly twice as much as initially expected – $1.8 TRILLION?” Cruz tweeted March 19, 2012.
Other politicians have been making similar claims since the Congressional Budget Office released a new report March 13, 2012, about the law’s expected costs. Fox News also ran a story saying the health law will cost twice as much as originally estimated.
A close read of the report indicates that cost projections have increased — but have not nearly doubled.
The health care law, passed in 2010, helps individuals obtain health coverage by expanding Medicaid and providing subsidies for moderate-income Americans to purchase insurance.
In 2010, the CBO analyzed cost projections, which go up over time as more provisions of the law are implemented. In that report, the gross cost to the government for coverage was projected at $938 billion. That figure — again, the gross cost — didn’t take into account revenue offsets, such as new taxes on the wealthy and penalties paid by individuals and employers who don’t opt into insurance. Those payments bring down the law’s net cost.
The CBO’s latest report updates those figures, but it looks at different years. The new gross estimate is $1.762 trillion — the figure cited in Cruz’s tweet. But it looks at costs over 11 years — 2012-2022 — whereas the earlier report’s figure was for 10 years. And it’s important to note that the timespan of 2012 through 2022 covers nine years when the law is fully implemented (and thus its costs are greater).
So, when we compare the years encompassed in both reports (2012 through 2019), here’s how that apples-to-apples comparison shakes out.
In the CBO’s first estimate, the gross figure is $931 billion.
In the new estimate, the figure is $1.01 trillion.
That’s an increase of 8.6 percent — far short of Cruz’s claim that it is “nearly twice as much.”
Ezra Klein pointed out in the Washington Post’s Wonkblog that the cost went up “because the recession has made people poorer, and so the health-care law is going to have to spend more to help them get health insurance.”
Finally, when comparing net figures from the CBO — which certainly provide a more true-to-life picture of the law’s cost than gross numbers — the projection for those eight years is actually less. The CBO estimated it at $784 billion in 2010 and revised that to $768 billion in 2012.
Cruz’s spokesman responded to our inquiry by suggesting that the CBO’s original cost projection was misleadingly low because it covered years before the law was fully implemented.
“Even the new CBO score includes two years before the law goes into full effect, so the eventual CBO score for the first 10 years of full implementation will be far higher than the new $1.76 trillion cost-of-coverage in the latest CBO score,” spokesman James Bernsen wrote.
But that also ignores the revenue that will be coming in from taxes and penalties, which drive the overall cost down.
Cruz’s tweet saying that the cost of health reform has nearly doubled does not reflect an accurate comparison of dollars or years. When the CBO’s early projections are held up to new projections accurately, the gross cost increase is 8.6 percent. Cruz was a long way off.
Planet, You are really spinning big time on your liberal treatise on the cost of Obamacare. Us rational common sense folks don’t believe anything this government puts out on costs of this bill or unemployment numbers which are spun monthly to mask how bad this economy is doing. Whatever the cost of this bill now or in the future, it is far too high to afford. Why do you think thousands of businesses and unions sought and received a waiver from compliance with it? You are right that there will be revenue from penalties and all the new taxes if it is allowed to stand. Is that a good thing to penalize an individual or business at a time of economic stress? Is it a good sign that nearly 40% of small businesses will drop Group Health coverage for their employees due to cost? Is it a good thing these employees will be forced to apply for Medicaid type coverage to replace their current coverage? The indigent uninsured could have been covered for a fraction of the cost of this one size fits all bill and everyone else could have kept their coverage they liked assuming there was legitimate Tort Reform in it and companies would be allowed to sell across state lines to create more competition. I’m sorry, but your arguments hold no water with me.
I don’t know, I had a small business employer email me that he amended his 2010 returns to take advantage of the small business premium tax credit and got an additonal refund back which helped him out a lot. It’s not like this tax credit is any worse than doing any other taxes.
Everything this bill has offered disappoints me. Small business has never been for it and it is a disincentive to hire, grow as a company with the bureaucratic shackles attached to it. Somewhere between 30 and 40% of small business now having Group Health have pledged to drop it by 2014 and employees will be thrown into the exchanges to apply for Medicaid like coverage. This is not a happy prospect for employers or employees in the near future. It will be a moot point if the Supreme Court shoots the bill or the worst parts of it down in June. On a related topic, it has been revealed that student health insurance in colleges across the country is doubling in cost. Oops! The students are not real happy with this Hopey Changy thing now that it is affecting them.
I agree the Obamacare writers totally shot themselves in the foot on this one. Making the tax break easier to apply for and making it worthwhile would have scored major points. This is a missed opportunity and provides more reason for the critics to pile on the criticism.
What would be your solution if Obamacare is shot down by the Supreme Court? It’s time to start thinking of alternatives as Obamacare looks like it could be DOA….
D, the writers of this bill were the Progressive Left. 2,700 pages of Progressive Utopia with no regard for our Constitution and ramming mandates down our throat. It was so complicated that even scholars can’t read it. Perhaps that is why Congress voted on it without reading it. The bill needs to be scrapped in its entirety and replaced with a simple 50 page bill with private market solutions. This time, include Tort Reform which was absent. One of the big cost drivers was Malpractice on doctors and hospitals. Second, allow companies to sell across state lines to promote competition and lower costs. A Pool could be set up to cover the indigent and chronically ill for a fraction of the cost of this monstous bill which doubles in cost everytime it is scored. We also shouldn’t be covering illegal aliens. They need to go back home and come back legally. The new bill should not be written by anyone with Progressive ideology or we will end up back at the same place. We have people in Congress who are doctors. They should write the bill since they have experience with all the problems that have been created by Obamacare.
Baby Steps. TORT REFORM.
Stream lined billing. Why do I go to the ER and end up with three different bills from three different entities? I went to one place. Reduce confusion. Reduce Collection expense. My mother is begining stategs of Altzheimers. She could never keep this crap straight even before this set in. I just paid a $60.00 for her that slipped into collection. How much did they spend to collect $60.00?
TORT REFORM has to be at the top of the list.
Them are my two beefs with the current system (not including the cost).
This is typical of Big-Guv and their advocates. Sugar coat the poison pill and hard-sell it to uninformed & gullible people with a strong tail-wind from the idealistic media. Once the sugar coating comes off, the poison’s bitter reality hits.
The D-controlled congress had to “pass it to see what’s in it” (thank you for the great quote, Ms. Pelosi). Now that they have passed it, the biggest government boondoggle of our lifetimes is unfolding and it is blindingly ugly. A huge standing ‘O’ to you myopic Big-Guvvists on Capitol Hill!
Amen County. I believe Congress caught Kathleen Sebelius spending right at $17 million in taxpayer money doing public relations to sell Obamacare. The President did over 30 speeches trying to explain in and never could sell it to the American People. Remember how he kept repeating that if you like your plan you can keep it. How is that working out when rates have skyrocketed and many businesses and individuals can’t afford their coverage anymore. Up to 40% of small business said they would have to drop Group Health because of affordability issues and government red tape. Student Health Insurance is doubling due to this bill. How is this affordable? How is it affordable when everytime this bill is scored by CBO, it doubles in cost? I hope the Supremes get it right and strike this monstrocity down or this country is toast.
I know I’m sounding like a broken record everytime you and I discuss, FA, but rates have been skyrocketing for at least a decade. This bill is the Heritage Foundation’s answer to Hillarycare. If you’re going to blame anyone, keep looking at the right. Yes, a Dem implemented it but it is a conservative answer to the previous version of healthcare reform from the 90’s. Our small business has grown from 18 employees (when I was hired) to now about 50. Your suggestion about the ACA doubling by the CBO needs to A) be put into context and B) be disproven:
Ted Cruz says health reform’s price tag has doubled
Tweet U.S. Senate hopeful Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, tweeted a claim that’s been racing through Republican circles in response to updated cost projections of the national health reform law.
“Did you know ObamaCare will cost nearly twice as much as initially expected – $1.8 TRILLION?” Cruz tweeted March 19, 2012.
Other politicians have been making similar claims since the Congressional Budget Office released a new report March 13, 2012, about the law’s expected costs. Fox News also ran a story saying the health law will cost twice as much as originally estimated.
A close read of the report indicates that cost projections have increased — but have not nearly doubled.
The health care law, passed in 2010, helps individuals obtain health coverage by expanding Medicaid and providing subsidies for moderate-income Americans to purchase insurance.
In 2010, the CBO analyzed cost projections, which go up over time as more provisions of the law are implemented. In that report, the gross cost to the government for coverage was projected at $938 billion. That figure — again, the gross cost — didn’t take into account revenue offsets, such as new taxes on the wealthy and penalties paid by individuals and employers who don’t opt into insurance. Those payments bring down the law’s net cost.
The CBO’s latest report updates those figures, but it looks at different years. The new gross estimate is $1.762 trillion — the figure cited in Cruz’s tweet. But it looks at costs over 11 years — 2012-2022 — whereas the earlier report’s figure was for 10 years. And it’s important to note that the timespan of 2012 through 2022 covers nine years when the law is fully implemented (and thus its costs are greater).
So, when we compare the years encompassed in both reports (2012 through 2019), here’s how that apples-to-apples comparison shakes out.
In the CBO’s first estimate, the gross figure is $931 billion.
In the new estimate, the figure is $1.01 trillion.
That’s an increase of 8.6 percent — far short of Cruz’s claim that it is “nearly twice as much.”
Ezra Klein pointed out in the Washington Post’s Wonkblog that the cost went up “because the recession has made people poorer, and so the health-care law is going to have to spend more to help them get health insurance.”
Finally, when comparing net figures from the CBO — which certainly provide a more true-to-life picture of the law’s cost than gross numbers — the projection for those eight years is actually less. The CBO estimated it at $784 billion in 2010 and revised that to $768 billion in 2012.
Cruz’s spokesman responded to our inquiry by suggesting that the CBO’s original cost projection was misleadingly low because it covered years before the law was fully implemented.
“Even the new CBO score includes two years before the law goes into full effect, so the eventual CBO score for the first 10 years of full implementation will be far higher than the new $1.76 trillion cost-of-coverage in the latest CBO score,” spokesman James Bernsen wrote.
But that also ignores the revenue that will be coming in from taxes and penalties, which drive the overall cost down.
Cruz’s tweet saying that the cost of health reform has nearly doubled does not reflect an accurate comparison of dollars or years. When the CBO’s early projections are held up to new projections accurately, the gross cost increase is 8.6 percent. Cruz was a long way off.
Planet, You are really spinning big time on your liberal treatise on the cost of Obamacare. Us rational common sense folks don’t believe anything this government puts out on costs of this bill or unemployment numbers which are spun monthly to mask how bad this economy is doing. Whatever the cost of this bill now or in the future, it is far too high to afford. Why do you think thousands of businesses and unions sought and received a waiver from compliance with it? You are right that there will be revenue from penalties and all the new taxes if it is allowed to stand. Is that a good thing to penalize an individual or business at a time of economic stress? Is it a good sign that nearly 40% of small businesses will drop Group Health coverage for their employees due to cost? Is it a good thing these employees will be forced to apply for Medicaid type coverage to replace their current coverage? The indigent uninsured could have been covered for a fraction of the cost of this one size fits all bill and everyone else could have kept their coverage they liked assuming there was legitimate Tort Reform in it and companies would be allowed to sell across state lines to create more competition. I’m sorry, but your arguments hold no water with me.
I don’t know, I had a small business employer email me that he amended his 2010 returns to take advantage of the small business premium tax credit and got an additonal refund back which helped him out a lot. It’s not like this tax credit is any worse than doing any other taxes.